Leukotrienes are products of eicosanoid metabolism and are implicated in a number of medical conditions, including inflammation, asthma, allergy, glomerulonephritis, neuroendocrine dysfunctions, AIDS, arthritis, bowel disease, psoriasis, diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, bacterial infection, etc. There are multiple classes of leukotrienes, e.g. class A, class B, class C, class D, class E and class F. Leukotrienes regulate the intensity and duration of immune responses and are involved in cell-to-cell communication. Leukotrienes are also involved in leukocyte migration and branchovasoconstriction. As established by radioligand binding as well as physiological assays, it appears that there are different types of receptors for leukotrienes. The molecular characteristics of leukotriene receptors were unknown until recently, when a leukotriene B4 receptor was cloned (Yokomizo et al., Nature, 387:620-624 (1997)).
In view of the important role that leukotrienes play in many physiological processes and medical conditions, there is a need for materials and methods useful for the identification of agonists and antagonists of leukotriene receptors.